FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to reclosable bags, and is more particularly concerned with gusseted bags having reclosure features, that is bags equipped with reclosable fasteners.
There have been various and sundry reclosable bag structures provided heretofore among which are the well known type formed from plastic film or other bag wall material equipped with reclosable fasteners inwardly from their mouth ends, and sealed closed along their sides and bottom ends. The fasteners which comprise complementary rib and groove resiliently flexible extruded fastener profiles along the mouth ends of the bags are also secured together at their ends in line with the side seals for the bags. Bags of this type may be formed from integrally extruded fastener and film as exemplified in U.S. Re. Pat. No. 28,969 and 3,410,327.
On the other hand, the bags may be formed from separately fabricated bag making sheet material and preformed extruded reclosable fastener strips as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,853,671 and 4,372,793, and bag U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,780,261, 3,054,434, 3,780,781.
None of the bags then equipped with separable extruded fasteners have gussets along their sides, and for some uses gusseted bags may be perferred because of their greater contents volume capacity.
While gusseted bags of the grocery bag type are well known, we are not aware of any such bags having heretofore been provided with reclosable fasteners in a manner to permit full opening of the gusseted sides of the top or mouth openings of the bags. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,865 there is a disclosure involving bags of either closed seam sides or gusseted sides and equipped with slider operated toothed zippers. However, the zippers are necessarily maintained closed at one end, that is at one side of the bag so that the sliders will remain operative, and therefore freedom for access into the bag or pouring from the bag is restricted to just one side of the bag.